The Web Developers Users' Group met for the first time on December 7, 2001, at 2:00 PM in Plaster Student Union 313.

Describe WDUG

Web Developers Users' Group is a group to help connect web developers across campus. It also is a way to connect University web developers with the Web Advisory Committee. WDUG has a web site that includes a description, discussion forum and list of members.

Introductions

Everyone went around the room and introduced themselves and mentioned the web site(s) they developed. About 80 developers attending the meeting.

Domain conversion

Sara mentioned the following information:

• Changing from having gold and silver domains to having one copper domain. Change will go into effect on December 19, 2001. The copper domain is already functioning now.
• Any web site that is secured for only silver and gold users would need to be reconfigured for copper users. This is typically what a systems programmer does.
• Any web pages with code that checks for gold or silver during the login process would now need to check for copper.
• When web developers log in to FrontPage, they'll need to enter "copper\userID"

Security and privacy

Sara also mentioned this information:

• Everything on the Missouri State web site is indexed by the search engine. So any file on the site can be found, even if nothing is linking to it.
• Don’t publish sensitive information, such as social security numbers, home phone numbers, home addresses, etc. online unless you have permission
• If you have forms online that ask for sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. make sure that the forms are secure. Contact the Web Coordinator at 66105 about getting a secure directory.

Future topics

WDUG members shared many future topic ideas. They included:

• How to make your web site accessible to multiple browsers and platforms
  Someone suggested that the forum include a place where people could share web addresses so other WDUG members could test on their machines. (Note: Sara has created a location in the forum called test my site please under the help category for this purpose)
• Status of the Web Access Project Someone asked about making web sites accessible. Sara referred everyone to the Web Access Project site. She said that everyone's site would be reviewed for accessibility in the coming months and web accessibility training was available.

• Someone asked about Bobby as a good tool for accessibility checking; Sara answered that Bobby only checks a subset of the accessibility checkpoints and isn't reliable in checking for total web accessibility.
  
  Sara also mentioned that the University's web templates were designed to be accessible.

• Web Development ProductsMany members suggested we discuss web development software, especially graphic software and web design software that was compatible on Windows and Macintosh clients. If common software could be decided, then the University should pursue site licenses when possible.
  
  Sara also mentioned how the University is considering a content management system solution for web development. This solution would eliminate the need for separate web development software since most updates would be performed through online forms. This solution is on hold because it requires additional funds.
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• Online forms
  An update on the online forms proposal was requested by one member. A committee is working on campus to determine the best products for placing forms online. This proposal will be on IT Council's agenda in January. If approved, it will be relayed to WDUG. The proposal mentions the use of HTML, Adobe Acrobat, and Word as standard ways to place forms online.

Future meeting time

We decided that WDUG should meet monthly on the third Friday of every month at 3:30 PM. Sara will figure out a meeting location and send it out to everyone before the next meeting on January 18, 2002.